doc: Update Preparing to Use the Bootstrap Binaries.
* doc/guix.texi (Preparing to Use the Bootstrap Binaries): Mention bootstrap-mes alongside bootstrap-gcc. (Reducing the Set of Bootstrap Binaries): Mention the Reduced Binary Seed bootstrap, MesCC-Tools and Mes.
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@ -23920,8 +23920,8 @@ GNU C Library (@pxref{Bootstrapping}). Usually, these bootstrap binaries are
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Taking these binaries for granted means that we consider them to be a correct
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and trustworthy `seed' for building the complete system. Therein lies a
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problem: the current combined size of these bootstrap binaries is about 250MB
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(@pxref{Bootstrappable Builds,,, mes, Mes Reference Manual}). Auditing or
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even inspecting these is next to impossible.
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(@pxref{Bootstrappable Builds,,, mes, GNU Mes}). Auditing or even inspecting
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these is next to impossible.
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For @code{i686-linux} and @code{x86_64-linux}, Guix now features a ``Reduced
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Binary Seed'' bootstrap @footnote{We would like to say: ``Full Source
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@ -23931,8 +23931,8 @@ to use that term for what we do now.}.
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The Reduced Binary Seed bootstrap removes the most critical tools---from a
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trust perspective---from the bootstrap binaries: GCC, Binutils and the GNU C
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Library are replaced by: @code{mescc-tools-seed} (a tiny assembler and linker)
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@code{mes-seed} (a small Scheme Interpreter and a C compiler writen in Scheme)
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and @code{tinycc-seed} (the Mes C Library, built for TinyCC). Using these new
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@code{bootstrap-mes} (a small Scheme Interpreter and a C compiler writen in
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Scheme and the Mes C Library, built for TinyCC and for GCC). Using these new
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binary seeds and a new set of
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@c
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packages@footnote{@c
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@ -23988,7 +23988,15 @@ packages bootstrap)} module. A similar figure can be generated with
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@example
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guix graph -t derivation \
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-e '(@@@@ (gnu packages bootstrap) %bootstrap-gcc)' \
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| dot -Tps > t.ps
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| dot -Tps > gcc.ps
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@end example
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or, for the Reduced Binary Seed bootstrap
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@example
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guix graph -t derivation \
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-e '(@@@@ (gnu packages bootstrap) %bootstrap-mes)' \
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| dot -Tps > mes.ps
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@end example
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At this level of detail, things are
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@ -24020,10 +24028,10 @@ write them in an output directory with the right layout. This
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corresponds to the @code{#:modules} argument of
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@code{build-expression->derivation} (@pxref{Derivations}).
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Finally, the various tarballs are unpacked by the
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derivations @code{gcc-bootstrap-0.drv}, @code{glibc-bootstrap-0.drv},
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etc., at which point we have a working C tool chain.
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Finally, the various tarballs are unpacked by the derivations
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@code{gcc-bootstrap-0.drv}, @code{glibc-bootstrap-0.drv}, or
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@code{bootstrap-mes-0.drv} and @code{mescc-tools-boot-0.drv}, at which point
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we have a working C tool chain.
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@unnumberedsubsec Building the Build Tools
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@ -24089,7 +24097,9 @@ automated way to produce them, should an update occur, and this is what
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the @code{(gnu packages make-bootstrap)} module provides.
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The following command builds the tarballs containing the bootstrap
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binaries (Guile, Binutils, GCC, libc, and a tarball containing a mixture
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binaries (Binutils, GCC, glibc, for the traditional bootstrap and
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linux-libre-headers, mescc-tools-seed, bootstrap-mes for the Reduced
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Binary Seed bootstrap, and Guile, and a tarball containing a mixture
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of Coreutils and other basic command-line tools):
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@example
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@ -24108,12 +24118,12 @@ know.
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@unnumberedsubsec Reducing the Set of Bootstrap Binaries
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Our bootstrap binaries currently include GCC, Guile, etc. That's a lot
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of binary code! Why is that a problem? It's a problem because these
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big chunks of binary code are practically non-auditable, which makes it
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hard to establish what source code produced them. Every unauditable
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binary also leaves us vulnerable to compiler backdoors as described by
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Ken Thompson in the 1984 paper @emph{Reflections on Trusting Trust}.
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Our traditional bootstrap includes GCC, GNU Libc, Guile, etc. That's a lot of
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binary code! Why is that a problem? It's a problem because these big chunks
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of binary code are practically non-auditable, which makes it hard to establish
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what source code produced them. Every unauditable binary also leaves us
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vulnerable to compiler backdoors as described by Ken Thompson in the 1984
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paper @emph{Reflections on Trusting Trust}.
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This is mitigated by the fact that our bootstrap binaries were generated
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from an earlier Guix revision. Nevertheless it lacks the level of
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@ -24125,7 +24135,19 @@ The @uref{http://bootstrappable.org, Bootstrappable.org web site} lists
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on-going projects to do that. One of these is about replacing the
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bootstrap GCC with a sequence of assemblers, interpreters, and compilers
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of increasing complexity, which could be built from source starting from
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a simple and auditable assembler. Your help is welcome!
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a simple and auditable assembler.
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Our first major achievement is the replacement of of GCC, the GNU C Library
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and Binutils by MesCC-Tools (a simple hex linker and macro assembler) and Mes
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(@pxref{Top, GNU Mes Reference Manual,, mes, GNU Mes}, a Scheme interpreter
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and C compiler in Scheme). Neither MesCC-Tools nor Mes can be fully
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bootstrapped yet and thus we inject them as binary seeds. We call this the
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Reduced Binary Seed bootstrap, as it has halved the size of our bootstrap
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binaries! Also, it has eliminated the C compiler binary; i686-linux and
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x86_64-linux Guix packages are now bootstrapped without any binary C compiler.
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Work is ongoing to make MesCC-Tools and Mes fully bootstrappable and we are
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also looking at any other bootstrap binaries. Your help is welcome!
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@node Porting
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@section Porting to a New Platform
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